Cook the food,not the bookings.

Yes. Zavo connects to the diary independent bistros actually keep — ResDiary, OpenTable, SevenRooms, or Tock — and books from your live availability, so it only ever offers a table you genuinely have free across the right sitting. Every reservation, change, and cancellation writes back in real time, so the diary you glance at between plates always matches the room and you never double-seat a small dining room. If you keep a reservations book by the till or run something of your own, that's fine too: Zavo captures each booking in a clean, structured form and sends it straight to your phone or a shared sheet. Tell us how you take bookings now and we'll set it up around the way your bistro already works.

Yes — that's its core job. When a diner rings, Zavo takes the date, time, and party size, checks your diary, and seats them into the early or late sitting that suits the kitchen, confirming on the spot. It respects the turn times a small room needs, so it won't seat a two-hour table when you need to flip it for a second sitting, and it holds your handful of larger tables for the bookings that need them. The reservation lands instantly and the diner gets a confirmation by text. Because it answers while you're plating, the calls that used to ring out into an empty room now become covers — so a thirty-seat bistro fills both services without you ever stepping off the pass.

Yes. A bistro menu shifts with the season and the market, and callers want to know what's on — the specials board, the set-lunch price, the wines by the glass, whether the tasting menu is running tonight. Trained on the board you set each day, Zavo answers these in seconds and only from what you've told it, so it never promises a dish that's already sold out or a price you've changed. Anything that needs your judgement is passed to you with the caller's details. The quick questions that would otherwise pull a single chef off the line are handled accurately, and the diner gets what they need to commit to a booking rather than ringing round to check first.

Yes, and for a neighbourhood bistro that's part of the magic. Zavo recognises a returning diner from their number, greets them by name, and can remember the details that matter — that they favour the window table, drink a particular wine, or always come for the Sunday set menu — noting it against the booking so the welcome feels personal before they arrive. It carries the relationships you've built over years into every call, even the ones that land while you're on the pass. Regulars feel as looked after on the phone as they do at the table, which is exactly the loyalty a small room depends on. You stay in control of what it remembers and can adjust a guest's notes whenever you like.

Yes. For a private dinner, a small celebration, or a chef's table, Zavo captures the full brief — the date, numbers, the occasion, any dietary needs, and what the party hopes for — and routes it to you with notes so you can shape the evening properly. It can explain your minimum spend and what's included, and where a deposit holds the booking it sends a secure payment link rather than taking card numbers over the phone. Because these enquiries are worth stepping off the line for, it can put a genuinely important one through to you while you decide how to handle the rest. The special bookings that make a bistro's reputation are captured the moment the caller rings, not lost to a missed call.

Yes — you decide what's worth stepping off the pass for. Zavo handles the everyday reservations and questions itself, but picks out the calls that genuinely need you — a private-dining enquiry, a supplier with a problem, a press request, or a regular asking for you by name — and routes them to you with a quick note on what was said. Everything else is booked or logged, so you're not darting to the phone for a question about opening hours mid-service. You set the rules: which calls reach you immediately, which wait for a callback, and how. So the one call that matters gets to you in seconds, while the steady flow of bookings keeps filling your diary without interrupting the kitchen.

No — it only ever says what you've configured for the day. Zavo works from the board, prices, and availability you set, so it won't offer a special that's sold out, quote a set-menu price you've changed, or seat a table you don't have. If a caller asks something outside what it knows, it takes their details and passes the question to you rather than guessing. Every call is logged with a transcript, so you have a clean record of exactly what was said about a dish or a booking. You can listen back and tighten its answers whenever you like, updating the specials as the kitchen changes. The agent relays tonight's truth faithfully, never its own invention — which is what protects a small room's reputation.

Yes. Security is built in, not bolted on. Calls are encrypted on the way in and held safe at rest, with access locked down and logged, and the host only shares what you've set it to share. Diner names, numbers, and reservation details are handled to enterprise standards, never sold on and never used to train anyone else's models. Where a deposit is taken for a private dinner, payment goes through a secure link rather than card details being read aloud, so nothing sensitive passes over the call. Every conversation is logged in full, which helps you settle any query and meet your data-protection duties. If you've specific requirements around how long reservation data is kept, we'll walk you through Zavo's retention approach before you switch it on.

Always — and that's where a lot of a bistro's bookings hide. The calls you most want often come in the quiet between lunch and dinner when you're prepping, or late at night once the kitchen's shut and a diner is finally planning the week. Zavo answers around the clock, so those reservations are taken rather than lost to a phone nobody can reach, and out-of-hours callers get a warm, useful answer instead of a dead line. There's no out-of-hours cover to pay for and no rota to juggle around a two-person kitchen. Every caller gets the same considered welcome at eleven at night as they would at the height of service, so a closed door never costs you a table.

Yes. If you've grown from one bistro to a small group, Zavo can answer for each site with its own menu, diary, sittings, and regulars, while giving you a single view across the lot. A caller reaches a host that knows that room's tables and tonight's board, not a generic call centre that can't tell one site from another. Opening hours, escalation contacts, and call handling can all differ from one bistro to the next. Reporting rolls up so you can compare call volumes, booked covers, and no-show rates site by site, and spot where the phone is quietly costing trade. Whether you run a single dining room or a couple of sister sites, every caller is answered consistently and their reservation lands with the right kitchen.

It helps in two ways that add up quickly in a small room. First, you stop losing calls: the reservation calls that used to ring out while you cooked or after you closed are answered and booked, so more of the demand you already have actually lands. Second, confirmations and reminders cut the no-shows that hurt most when every table counts, so the covers you hold are the covers that turn up. Most bistros see fuller sittings and fewer empty tables within the first few weeks, simply because nothing is being dropped. We'd sooner you judged it on your own till: Zavo logs every call, booking, and no-show, so you can weigh the extra covers it protects against what you pay.

Yes, and in a thirty-seat room it makes a real difference. The moment a table is booked, Zavo sends a confirmation by text so the diner has the details and your diary is current. It sends a reminder the day before, which is one of the simplest ways to cut the no-shows that leave a small bistro half empty. If a table cancels late or doesn't show, it can flag it so you offer the space to someone on a waitlist rather than lose the cover. It can also follow up after a special meal to invite the diner back. All of this happens automatically, without you sending a thing, so your covers hold firm and your evenings don't unravel over a couple of empty tables.

Most bistros go live the same day and are fully settled within a few days. There's no kit to buy and nothing to install in the kitchen. You divert your existing number to Zavo, connect your reservation diary, and tell it the essentials — your sittings, your menu and specials, your regulars, and how you like different callers handled. From its first call it speaks in your bistro's name and tone, and you can replay any conversation and fine-tune its answers as you go. Connecting your diary on the technical side is something we take care of. Most chef-owners find the biggest task is simply writing down how they want the phone handled — a rare and useful chance to step back from the pass.

That's completely fine — plenty of good bistros still do. Zavo connects to the main reservation systems out of the box, but it doesn't need one to be useful. If you keep a book by the till, it can still take every reservation in full, note it in a tidy, structured form, and get it to you whichever way works — a text, an email, or a shared sheet you check before service — so nothing is lost and you stay in control of the actual diary. When you're ready to move to a digital system, Zavo connects straight to it. You won't be left out because you run your bookings the traditional way, and you're never forced to change how your room works to use it.

Yes — that's the whole point. Zavo answers in your bistro's name and a tone you set, so it sounds warm, considered, and unhurried rather than like a call centre or a brusque booking line. It isn't reading a generic script; it speaks about your room, your menu, and your regulars the way you would. You can listen back to any call and refine exactly how it greets people, describes a dish, or handles a request, until it feels like an extension of your front of house. Because it recognises returning diners and remembers their preferences, it can be more personal than a stranger answering the phone in a rush mid-service. The character that makes your bistro yours is carried into every call.